January 2020 Reading Posters
January 3, 2020
Library Lovers’ Month Reading Posters
January 27, 2020
January 2020 Reading Posters
January 3, 2020
Library Lovers’ Month Reading Posters
January 27, 2020

Valentine’s STEM Activities

Valentine's Day doesn't have to be just hearts and candy—you can add some extra fun by adding STEM experiments! We've gathered three STEM experiments you can use in your library or classroom.

Valentine's Day STEM Activities

Candy Heart Catapult

Send hearts flying with this STEM activity! Created by Joy in the Works, this engineering-based STEM activity can be used for hands-on learning. Depending on the age of your students, you can make this activity easy or challenging. You’ll only need a few supplies to get started.

  • Conversation hearts
  • Valentine’s M&M’s or other Valentine’s candy
  • Jumbo craft sticks
  • Rubber bands
  • Plastic spoons
  • Plastic cups (optional)
  • Masking tape (optional)
  • Sharpies (optional)


For younger patrons, have students gather into groups of two or three and create one catapult based on this design by Devin Collier. Once students have created their catapults, they can then try to catapult the candy hearts into the plastic cups.

If you’d like to create a more challenging activity, you can have students design their own catapults using the materials above. Once students design their first catapult, they will catapult their conversation hearts to see how far they’ll go, then use masking tape and a sharpie to record how far the hearts flew. Students will next design a second catapult, and again record how far their hearts went. You can use this worksheet from Scholastic to walk students through the lesson of creating, evaluating, and analyzing their designs.

Love Connection with Circuits

Students will love squishy circuit hearts that light up. You’ll need squishy circuit kits, conductive white dough (playdough), and insulating red dough.

Read the full instructions for the Squishy Circuits Heart Activity here.

Fizzy Hearts Chemical Reactions

A fun and easy chemistry activity for younger students! You’ll need baking powder, water with a few drops of dish soap added, vinegar, eye droppers, Alka Seltzer tablets, heart-shaped containers, and a tray.

Students investigate which ingredients make better fizzy hearts. Start by having students fill the heart container with water and drop the Alka Seltzer tablet in. One tablet will make a fizzy eruption. Next, have students try filling the heart with baking powder and adding the soap water, then again using baking powder and vinegar.

Learn more about the experiment at Little Bins for Little Hands.

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